An Astonishing Haul

After returning last night.

Wei Sheng put away the bundle and slept until he woke naturally.

Only after breakfast did he have time to inspect last night's haul:

"First, the silver..."

Nine hundred and seventy taels in banknotes, along with various gold and silver objects, worth around two thousand taels in total;

Rich in one fell swoop!

That cut out a hundred years of hard work!

"Next, the two martial arts..."

"Spirit Ape Flesh-Refining Method"

"Form-Transmutation Art"

The former was a method for breaking through to flesh refinement; once mastered, it could condense Spirit Ape Force;

The latter was a method for changing one's face and appearance by adjusting the muscles, tendons, and bones;

Both martial arts had come from the Fourth Refinement old man.

At the sight of them, Wei Sheng was so moved that he wanted to go back and say something heartfelt to Old Yuan of the Fourth Refinement.

Old Yuan, you're truly a rare, generous soul.

"The Flesh Refinement Method came just in time! I've already refined my skin to the limit and could venture into the Flesh Refinement Realm at any moment. All I've lacked is a method. With this, a breakthrough to the Flesh Refinement Realm is just around the corner!"

As for the Form-Transmutation Art...

It was even more of an essential for home and travel.

"Lastly..."

There was the blood-red jade token Wei Sheng now held, cold enough to pierce the bones and utterly sinister.

Yet when he gazed at the red lotus on the jade pendant, that icy sensation disappeared. Instead, a restless heat surged within him, as though becoming crimson fire that would burn everything.

It really was a treasure.

Unfortunately, he had no idea how to use it.

Wei Sheng frowned.

Had the Eldest Master of the Hong Family not kept it close to his person and treasured it so dearly, he would never have thought to take it.

But he knew too little about it and had no idea how to use it properly.

"Forget it. I'll study it slowly later."

Wei Sheng put away the blood-red jade token, and a smile slowly rose on his face.

This trip to the Hong Family had really been worth it!

Not only had he completely eliminated the threat posed by the Eldest Master of the Hong Family.

He had also obtained valuables worth two thousand taels of silver, along with two martial arts!

It truly was an enormous haul!

Of course, two thousand taels in valuables was not the limit of the Hong Family's wealth. Their truly valuable assets were things like house deeds, land deeds, and shops.

But to Wei Sheng, those things were land mines, nowhere near as practical as silver.

"With these things, I can cultivate in peace for a while and strive to break through to the Flesh Refinement Realm soon..."

Although his current strength was no weaker than someone at the Fourth Refinement, who would complain about not being strong enough?

"Judging by the time, the officers should have discovered the Hong Residence's dungeon by now..."

Wei Sheng had learned the dungeon's location while torturing the guards, but he had not acted.

Rescuing those people would have been easy, but how would he settle them afterward?

He could hardly dump them on the street and leave them to fend for themselves, could he?

In the end, he had decided to leave them for the officers to handle.

Professional matters were best left to professionals.

...That afternoon.

Wei Sheng was studying the Spirit Ape Flesh-Refining Method when loud knocks sounded at the front door.

Wei He opened the door and called, "Brother, Brother Che is here."

This was not Che Zhenzhong's first visit to Wei Sheng. When the brothers had first moved here, he had often come to visit, and over time, he had grown familiar with Wei He as well.

"Old Wei, you haven't heard yet, have you..."

Upon seeing Wei Sheng, Che Zhenzhong could not help exclaiming, "The Hong Family has been wiped out!"

"What? Someone actually wiped out the Hong Family?!"

Wei Sheng looked shocked, with a trace of joy he could barely suppress.

"Yes, someone took out the whole nest overnight. From the Eldest Master of the Hong Family and the Fourth Refinement expert down to all the skin-refining guards, every last one died...

"What's more, the authorities found many of the men and women who went missing a while ago in the Hong Family's dungeon. They've now been taken back to the County Yamen and settled there...

"That vile Hong Chengdu actually committed so many atrocities against heaven and reason. Getting killed with a single palm strike was letting him off lightly..."

Che Zhenzhong seethed with indignation. He had already disliked the Hong Family's overbearing ways.

After learning that Hong Chengdu had imprisoned so many youths for his own selfish desires, he was even more furious, wishing he could tear him into ten thousand pieces.

"What a shame I couldn't kill him myself..." Wei Sheng said regretfully.

"A shame indeed!"

Che Zhenzhong nodded. It never even occurred to him that Wei Sheng was that mysterious killer.

The gap in strength between the two was far too great!

"By the way, the Hong Family Guard Team from the Inner City has mobilized to investigate Hong Chengdu's death. The Outer City won't be peaceful lately, so don't go out unless you have to..."

Leaving those words behind, Che Zhenzhong departed.

"The Hong Family in the Inner City..."

Wei Sheng narrowed his eyes slightly.

Turning his head, he saw a trace of worry amid the joy covering Wei He's face:

"Brother, were you behind what happened to the Hong Family?"

The two shared a room, so Wei He had some awareness of Wei Sheng's return in the middle of the night. Moreover, it had also happened last night. The timing was too coincidental for him not to wonder.

"Yes. Don't worry. Your brother is a martial arts genius, and I'm very strong. Look, I haven't got a scratch on me, have I?"

Wei Sheng smiled. He did not want to hide it from Wei He; there was no need.

But even after hearing that, Wei He was still worried and checked him over himself. Only after confirming that he was unhurt did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"Brother, the Hong Family is no small matter. Could you not be so reckless next time?"

"Next time, definitely."

Wei Sheng patted Wei He's shoulder. The latter rolled his eyes, having easily caught the perfunctory note in Wei Sheng's words.

Still, he was very happy that his second brother's strength had improved so quickly.

In times like these, fists were everything.

If his second brother's strength reached the top ranks of Black Mountain City, perhaps he could rescue their parents.

"Xiao He, today's a happy day. Make a few extra dishes to celebrate."

"Sure!"

Wei He turned and headed to the kitchen. With the Hong Family destroyed, the great mountain weighing on his heart had finally been leveled. As the burden lifted, even his steps grew much lighter.

After lunch, the "martial arts prodigy" Wei Sheng began studying the Spirit Ape Flesh-Refining Method.

Then reality slapped him in the face, hard.

"Flesh refinement really isn't that easy. With my current blood vitality and Jin Force, it'll actually take three or four months just to get started..."

Wei Sheng clicked his tongue.

For one thing, Flesh Refinement required many times more precision than refining skin.

For another, the total amount of flesh to refine far exceeded that of skin.

If all the skin were stripped from a normal adult male, it would cover only about two square meters.

Tempering roughly twenty-five percent constituted the First Refinement;

Tempering roughly fifty percent constituted the Second Refinement;

Tempering roughly eighty percent constituted the Third Refinement;

Flesh refinement was similar.

But the difference was this.

Muscle accounted for over forty percent of the human body's weight, with more than six hundred muscles in total.

The workload was far greater than that of the Skin Refinement Realm.

Naturally, the difficulty of getting started rose dramatically as well.

"Looks like I'll have to spend money..."

That afternoon, Wei Sheng went out and purchased the supplementary medicinal ingredients for preparing medicine according to the Spirit Ape Flesh-Refining Method's instructions.

One set cost ten taels of silver.

That was equivalent to a month's work for nothing.

But Wei Sheng was not short of money now. He bought ten sets outright, spending a hundred taels of silver.

Then his life returned once more to its previous routine: making medicinal ointment, applying it all over his body, condensing Spirit Ape Force, tempering his muscles...

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Three days later, nourished by the medicinal ointment, Wei Sheng felt he had reached the threshold of producing Spirit Ape Force when urgent knocking suddenly sounded outside.

Then.

Wei Sheng heard Che Zhenzhong's urgent voice: "Old Wei, Old Wei..."

After seeing Wei Sheng in the inner room, he could not help exclaiming:

"Old Wei, something terrible has happened! Xiao Ran's in trouble! The Hong Family Guard Team identified him as the killer who took out the Eldest Master of the Hong Family, and they beat him badly..."